Wednesday, December 21 2011
Daniel 8
Verse of the Day: V8 “Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.”
1. The Great Ram (V1-4)
V3 “Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.”
Prophet Daniel saw a vision of a great ram which had two horns. The great ram was none other than the Medes-Persian kingdom, with one horn representing the king of Media, and the higher horn representing the king of Persia.
V20 “The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.”
2. The Great Goat (V5-8)
V5 “And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.”
Before long the great goat or the Greek kingdom invaded and defeated the great ram or the Medes-Persian kingdom. The great horn of the great goat was Alexander the Great, the first king of the Greek kingdom. However, at the peak of Alexander’s greatness, he died suddenly of an illness. After his death, there was chaos and infighting, and the Greek kingdom was weakened and eventually divided into four smaller kingdoms ruled respectively by his four generals. Indeed, in the history of mankind, there is never a kingdom or a king, who is the greatest, as only God and His kingdom is the greatest.
V8 “Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.”
3. The Great God (V9-27)
V9 “And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land.”
The little horn was Antiochus, one of the four generals, who attempted to destroy the pleasant land or Israel. Indeed, in the history of mankind, kingdoms and kings have attempted to destroy Israel, yet they have never succeeded, because the great God always protects and preserves Israel, His people, as well as His Christians, the believers of God.
Prayer of the Day:
Dearest God, thank You for protecting and preserving me as You are the greatest.
